Proceedings of an International Conference on the Conservation of Grotto Sites, Mogao Grottoes at Dunhuang

Neville Agnew, Editor

The Mogao grottoes, a UNESCO World Heritage Site near Dunhuang
in the Gobi Desert, are located on the ancient caravan routeknown
as the Silk Road—that once linked China with the West. At Dunhuang,
generations of Buddhist monks created hundreds of rock temples.
Nearly 500 of these grottoes remain; they are lined with painted
clay sculptures and wall paintings that depict legends, people,
customs, and the arts of China over a thousand-year period.

This volume of symposium proceedings marks the culmination of the
first phase of the GCI's collaborative project with the State Bureau
of Cultural Relics of the People's Republic of China and the Dunhuang
Academy. The book also represents the first conference to bring
together Chinese and Western scholars on the subject of grotto conservation.
Various approaches to site management are discussed, along with
conservation principles and practice and geotechnical and environmental
issues. Individual articles address visitors' impact on the microenvironment
of caves, nondestructive techniques for analyzing local stone and
pigment, methods of protecting caves from ongoing environmental
damage, research on ancient materials and techniques, and analyses
of stone sculpture. More than 40 articles are included, many translated
from Chinese.

Neville Agnew is associate director for programs of the GCI and
is the author of numerous research publications in chemistry and
conservation. His conservation work with the Institute has focused
on the preservation of heritage sites in such places as New Mexico,
China, and Africa.